Sotheby's Important Americana - Collection of Adolph Henry Meyer, 1st Ed

Sotheby's Catalog, An Important Russian Imperial Jewel. Geneva 17 November 2005. 1st Ed hardcover. "An impressive and highly important diamond ornament from the collection of the Russian Imperial Family, Russia, second half of the 18th century. This diamond necklace with bowknot clasp is not only a remarkable jewel in itself, but its Russian royal provenance puts it in a class of its own. It evokes the blinding splendour of Catherine II, Empress of Russia: the magnificence of her court, her parks, her palaces, her art collections, and monuments. The most striking and colourful figure on the stage of European political life, for thirty four years she ruled a mighty empire which stretched from Siberia to Poland and left it stronger, larger and richer than when she came to the throne in 1762. After her death in 1796, her friend the Prince de Ligne, who had named her Catherine the Great, declared that this title- which has never been lost- resumed all her genius, courage, sense of justice, and force of character. Using her court as a stage, she played the part of an autocratic but enlightened ruler to perfection, imposing in her public appearances, kind and charming in private. The French ambassador, the Comte de Ségur who noticed how “her majestic head and brow, proud look and dignified deportment made her seem taller than she was”, was also impressed by her feminine grace “ her aquiline nose, well shaped mouth, Saxe blue eyes beneath dark lashes, gentle glance and seductive smile”. In spite of her success, she once confided to the Prince de Ligne that she could have served Russia better if she had been born a man. Ever the courtier, he assured her that being a woman was a positive advantage. “Believe me, you are so much more impressive in your beautiful embroidered orange red velvet dolman or tunic than a man decked out in boots and shoulder sash can ever be. In addition the five huge diamonds blazing out from your hair are far more effective than a man’s hat which is either ridiculously small or ridiculously big”. He was right. Her diamond jewellery proclaimed her power and her rank as Empress and appealed to the Russian taste for sumptuous goods. It impressed the Rev. William Coxe, visiting St. Petersburg in 1778: “the glory and the splendor of the clothing of the court and abundance of precious stones leave the opulence of other European courts far behind” and his opinion was shared by the acute Madame de Stael...

Justice Warren Shepro Collection of Clocks: Sotheby's NY, April 26, 2001. 1st Ed hardcover with dust jacket. The catalogue of a famous collection sold in New York. Shepro collected e...

Sotheby's Art at Auction - The Art Market in Review 1993-1994 by Sotheby's. Hightlights: "The Property of a Lady" by Ian Fleming a James Bond short story (commissioned by Sotheby's in 1963), Klimt (Dame mit Facher), David Smith (Cubi V), Harry Winston diamond necklace...

Sotheby's: The Garbisch Collection, Volume Three. 1st Ed softcover auction catalog. The 588 item catalog includes color and black & white photographs and description of each item. Wi...

Reference Book Chinese Art – Sotheby’s An Important Private Collection of Qing Historical Works of Art, Hong Kong, 7 October 2010

Andy Warhol was one of the great creative geniuses of the second half of the 20th century and was one of the leading figures in the "Pop Art" movement. Here we have the five volume boxed set of Sotheby sale catalogues from April 23rd to May 3rd 1988 which was used for the disposal of his vast collection which ranged from important pieces of Ruhlmann furniture to Mickey Mouse and Mini Mouse...

This is the catalogue published in 2014 by Sotheby's for the sale of the private collection of Felix Marcilhac. As might be expected this was one of th...

A group of seven Sotheby's New York Pre-Columbian sales catalogs with lavish color photos. An invaluable reference for the collector, scholar or anyone interested in Pre-Columbian a...